A Most Magnificent Machine

This first social history of the early railroads reveals how ordinary Americans experienced this innovation at the grass roots, from boosters' dreams of get-rich schemes to naysayers' fears of soulless corporations. Drawing on an amazing 400,000 articles from 185 newspapers-plus more than 3,000 books and pamphlets from the era-it documents the initial burst of enthusiasm accompanying early railroading as it took shape in various settings across the country.